The Case of the Haunted Island
The Case of the Haunted Island is the fifth short story in the sixth anthology of Biggles Air Police short stories entitled Biggles Presses On. The anthology was first published in January, 1958. In the anthology, this story is preceded by Mission Oriental and followed by The Case of the Ambitious Fishmonger. Synopsis What had caused the native islanders of a remote Pacific atoll to leave their homes? And what was the source of the rumours about the atoll being haunted? And who was the "mad Englishman" the native islanders had spoken about? Biggles and co., with Marcel Brissac, investigate the strange circumstances of the island of Oto-via. Plot (Click on expand to read) Raymond has an unusual mission for Biggles. The French authorities have asked the British government to look into reports of a "mad Englishman" reportedly living on the remote Pacific atoll of Oto-via. Then someone or something had caused the native population to abandon the island. Now there are rumours that the island is haunted. As Oto-via is French, Biggles invites Marcel to go along and the whole crew set off on a Sunderland for the Pacific. Over at Oto-via, they find the wreck of a merchant ship, Belinda. The captain, David MacDonald is dead, having been murdered by a blow from a pipe which Biggles retrieves as evidence. All the ship's cargo of canned goods has also disappeared as has the ship's instruments and fittings. At Tahiti, Marcel learns that Ah Song, the Chinese trader at Oto-via, was now running a shop at Atuona so they fly there to question him. Ah Song reveals that a hurricane had blown the ship over the reef onto the coral. Only one man was seen on board. He refused to leave and kept everyone else off the ship with his revolver. Ah Song did not believe he was mad, but had probably been drinking all the time. After a time, a trading schooner, the Mahina arrived. The Captain, Nathaniel Clark, landed near the wreck. Then later, the Solomon Islands crew of the schooner was seen transfering heavy loads from the Belinda. Clark then told the Oto-via native population that the "mad Englishman" had killed himself. Everyone had to leave as the island would be haunted. He offered to take the women and children while the men followed in their canoes. Ah Song had left with them. According to Ah Song, there has been a glut of canned goods on the market which has caused prices to drop. Biggles and co. return to Tahiti in the hope of locating the Mahina but discover to their surprise that Captain Clark had sold his schooner and boarded a merchant ship for Southampton. They can still beat the ship its destination but first they fly to Tongariva to speak to Captain Hay, the new owner of the Mahina. Hay is aghast to learn from Biggles and Marcel that Clark might have murdered MacDonald. He had bought the schooner, complete with its cargo of canned goods, from Clark. Hay also bought a sextant and chronometer, both of which bore the initials D.M. Biggles takes those as evidence. Biggles also questions the crew of the Mahina who confirm that they had carried the cargo from the Belinda as Ah Song described. The Air Police crew fly back to Britain. Clark arrives later at Southampton only to find Scotland Yard officers waiting. MacDonald's gold watch is found on his person. Clark's fingerprints are also on the piece of pipe. This and all the other pieces of evidence are enough to convict him of murder. Characters The Special Air Police *Air Commodore Raymond *Biggles *Algy Lacey *Ginger Hebblethwaite *Bertie Lissie Others *Marcel Brissac *Captain Dupreve *Ah Song *Captain David MacDonald *Captain Nathaniel Clark *Captain Hay *Jules Boulenger Aircraft *Short Sunderland Ships *''Tarivo'' *''Belinda'' *''Mahina'' *''Esperence'' Places Visited *Oto-via *Papeete **Hotel du Port *Atuona *Tongariva Mentioned *Malaita - Solomon Islands *Southampton Research Notes *According to the text, this is one of the few cases where Biggles and Marcel had to go to court to give evidence. References to the past Incongruities Chronology Category:Biggles short stories Category:Short stories Category:Air Police era short stories